Woman rescued after car crashes into river

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine(NEWS CENTER) -- An 82-year-old woman was rescued Friday afternoon after a man running nearby spotted her car upside down in the Carrabassett River.

Carrabassett Valley Police Chief Mark Lopez said Ivah Palmer was driving her car on Route 27 around noon Friday when it went off the road and over an embankment. The car landed upside down in the river.

Chief Lopez said Dave Koenig from Coplin Plantation was running on the Narrow Gauge path across the river when he spotted the car's taillights. Police said Koenig than swam across the river and attempted to get Palmer out of the car, and then called for more help. Koenig was able to flag down more people nearby.

Lopez said Michael Moore from Dixfield and another man helped pull Palmer out of the car. She was wrapped in a blanket and placed in a car to warm up until rescue personnel arrived on scene.

Authorities said Palmer was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington with non-life threatening injuries.

Chief Lopez said Palmer had been in the car for nearly 20 minutes before Koenig spotted her.